A Republican Senator was subjected to ridicule and scorn at the hands of his own constituents after he declared Monday night that he was advocating openly for "christian nationalism."
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) made this claim at a gala hosted by the public affairs institute National Conservatism Conference in Washington D.C.
"Some will say I'm calling America a Christian nation, and so I am," Hawley told attendees "Some will say I'm advocating Christian nationalism. And so I do."
Christian nationalism has been dubbed the "single biggest threat" to religious freedom in the U.S. with its condemnation of the LGBTQ community and links to neo-Nazis.
Hawley's remark caught the eye of his Missouri constituents who shared his statement on a state Reddit group Tuesday morning with the question "What do you call Josh Hawley?
Reddit users were quick to flood the feed with accusations of political hypocrisy with self-serving rather than Christian values, with more than 400 responses in about three hours.
"I met him at an industry event right after he was elected the first time," wrote user AnxiousLeisureSuitAnxiousLeisureSuit. "He told us he believed in our cause and would fight to support us, then voted against our bill just a few weeks later. Also I shook his hand and it felt like a cold, raw chicken breast."
"The man says whatever people in front of him want to hear and then does the opposite when voting in the Senate," replied This- Dragonfruit-810. "I’m genuinely shocked more people aren’t outraged at the BS he’s pulled."
Insults hurled at the Republican lawmaker included "Christofascist traitor," "Virginian con artist," and "sycophantic fascist coward."
"Christian Nationalist is Nazi terminology," added user SlothfulKoala. "So I’ll go with Nazi."
Another redditer identified themself as a conservative to condemn the melding of religion and government.
"I am conservative, but I also understand that one of the main principles that the US was founded on is the freedom of religion," they wrote. "In fact, forcing religious beliefs onto people is what the people on the Mayflower were escaping when they came here."
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This is not the first time Hawley outraged constituents. In 2020, news broke that the Republican lawmaker was registered to vote at his sister's Missouri address while in ownership of a $1.3 million house in northern Virginia where may have resided full time.
Nor were his fellow Missourians the lone group to raise an uproar over his Christian nationalism remarks.
New Republic writer Hafiz Rashid called his comment "terrifying."
Yale Review editor James Surowiecki said on X he found Hawley's remark "Historically inaccurate and ethically repulsive."
"Hawley claiming that rationalist deists like Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison were 'Christian nationalists' is an embarrassing attempt to rewrite American history to suit his revanchist, ideological zealotry," he added.
"Hawley should read Washington's letter to the Jewish community of Newport, which says that religious freedom in the US is not a matter of Christians indulging non-Christians, but rather an assertion that the only thing required to be an American is that people be 'good citizens.'"
Hawley is up for reelection in November and faces a strong challenge from Democrat Lucas Kunce, a Marine veteran.
